The fuel efficiency of vehicles has been increasing in response to government regulations and customer expectations. One way to increase fuel efficiency of a vehicle is to decrease the weight of the vehicle. For vehicles propelled by an internal combustion engine, the weight of the internal combustion engine can represent a significant portion of the weight of the vehicle. Thus, an opportunity to reduce the weight of an internal combustion engine represents an opportunity to improve fuel efficiency of an associated vehicle. Because of the size and complexity of internal combustion engines, there may remain unexpected and unanticipated opportunities to reduce the weight of such engines.
In addition to reducing weight, if a cylinder head of an internal combustion engine could be configured to increase a combustion pressure capability while reducing weight, increased combustion pressure could be realized. Increasing combustion pressure causes more thorough or improved combustion of fuel, which will reduce emissions and increase engine efficiency.